VC firm Crane Venture Partners will oversee the insurer’s $450m Europe and APAC funds and manage existing and new investments.
MassMutual Ventures, the corporate VC arm of US insurance company MassMutual, has entered an agreement with VC firm Crane Venture Partners to oversee its Europe and Asia-Pacific investment funds totalling $450m and including 40 portfolio companies.
Crane Venture Partners will also manage all new Europe and Asia-Pacific investments. MassMutual Ventures will continue to hold ownership positions in its existing portfolio companies in the region.
“This agreement marks the next evolution in MassMutual Ventures’ longstanding relationship with the Crane team that was established seven years ago,” said Doug Russell, managing director and head of MassMutual Ventures, in a release. MassMutual Ventures has been a minority investor in Crane since 2018 and an anchor investor in all its funds.
MassMutual Ventures, a multistage CVC investing in fintech, enterprise SaaS, cybersecurity and data analytics, will continue to manage its existing portfolio of more than 60 companies in North America and Israel. it will also invest in new companies through its Boston-based MassMutual Ventures US and MassMutual Ventures Climate Tech Fund teams.
Signs that the insurer was looking to pull back from Europe and Asia-Pacific came in February this year when the managing partners of its Europe and Asia-Pacific funds left. It combined the Europe and Asia-Pacific teams with its North America and Israel team.
Oishani Mitra
Oishani Mitra is the content manager for Global Corporate Venturing.